Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

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Men's 800 metres
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium
Dates14–16 October 1964
Competitors47 from 32 nations
Winning time1:45.1 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Peter Snell
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
Silver medal icon.svg Bill Crothers
Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada
Bronze medal icon.svg Wilson Kiprugut
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya
  1960
1968  

The men's 800 metres was the middle of the seven men's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. 47 athletes from 32 nations competed. [1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The first round was held on 14 October, with the semifinals on 15 October and the final on 16 October. [2] The event was won by Peter Snell of New Zealand, successfully defending his 1960 gold medal (the third man to do so), and completing the first half of his 800 metres/1500 metres double. Bill Crothers of Canada took silver, the first 800 metres medal for that nation since 1936 and matching Canada's best-ever result in the event (silver in 1932). Wilson Kiprugut's bronze was the first medal by Kenya in any event; Kenya would become a frequent fixture on the men's 800 metres podium.

Summary

The runners used a crouch start without blocks and a single turn stagger start (breaking after the first turn). Returning to the final from four years earlier were defending champion Peter Snell and bronze medalist George Kerr. While Snell started strongly, he found himself in third place at the break, led by aggressive front-running by Wilson Kiprugut. As others moved forward, Snell found himself boxed along the rail, so as the runners came onto the home stretch he had to slow to come out the back of the box, then as the bell approached, he glided along the outside to catch up to Kiprugut and Kerr in the lead. With free running room, Snell kept going, taking the lead on the penultimate turn. After establishing a three-metre lead, he held his position, even extending it a little to take the repeat gold. Down the backstretch, Bill Crothers made his way around Kiprugut while Kerr was trying to chase down Snell. Crothers came off the final turn with more speed, passing Kerr on the home stretch. Kerr began to struggle. Snell was too far ahead for Crothers to catch, but Kiprugut closed down on Kerr, passing him and sealing the bronze medal with a dip at the finish.

Snell became the third to defend his 800-metre title after Douglas Lowe and Mal Whitfield. The feat would not be accomplished again for 52 years until David Rudisha repeated in 2016. Kiprugut won Kenya's first ever Olympic medal, unleashing a floodgate of national dominance in distance running events, particularly the 3000 meters steeplechase in subsequent Olympics.

Background

This was the 15th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three finalists from 1960 returned: gold medalist Peter Snell of New Zealand, bronze medalist George Kerr of Jamaica, and sixth-place finisher Manfred Matuschewski of the United Team of Germany. Snell had broken the 800 metres world record as well as the one-mile world record, and was a favorite to repeat. [1]

Chad, Colombia, Hong Kong, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Tanzania appeared in the event for the first time. Great Britain and the United States each made their 14th appearance, tied for the most among all nations.

Competition format

After one Games of a four-round format in 1960, the competition returned to the three-round format used in most Games since 1912 (other than 1960, the only other deviation was in 1936 when there were only two rounds due to a small number of entrants). The final, which had been 9 men from 1920 to 1952, 8 in 1956, and only 6 in 1960, was back up to 8 men. The 1964 competition introduced the "fastest loser" system, used only in the semifinals at this edition. Previously, advancement depended solely on the runners' place in their heat. The 1964 competition added advancement places to the fastest runners across the heats in the semifinals who did not advance based on place.

There were six first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 athletes; the top four runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were three semifinals with 8 athletes each; the top two runners in each semifinal, and the next two fastest overall, advanced to the eight-man final. [1] [3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics.

World recordFlag of New Zealand.svg  Peter Snell  (NZL)1:44.3 Christchurch, New Zealand 2 February 1962
Olympic recordFlag of New Zealand.svg  Peter Snell  (NZL)1:46.48 Rome, Italy 2 September 1960

In the second semifinal, George Kerr and Wilson Kiprugut each finished at 1:46.1 to set a new, though short-lived, Olympic record. The final saw four runners break that new record, with Peter Snell's gold-medal winning 1:45.1 the new record afterward.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

DateTimeRound
Wednesday, 14 October 196415:30Round 1
Thursday, 15 October 196415:00Semifinals
Friday, 16 October 196416:40Final

Results

First round

The top four runners in each of the 6 heats advanced.

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Wilson Kiprugut Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:47.8Q
2 Tom Farrell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:48.6Q
3 Valery Bulyshev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:48.6Q
4 Joseph Lambrechts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:48.9Q
5 François Châtelet Flag of France.svg  France 1:48.9
6Ebrahim YazdanpanahState Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran 1:54.7
7 Hugo Walser Flag of Liechtenstein (1937-1982).svg  Liechtenstein 1:57.5
8 Nipon Pensuvabharp Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 1:58.8

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Dieter Bogatzki Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:50.3Q
2 Stig Lindback Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:50.8Q
3 Chris Carter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:51.0Q
4 Pekka Juutilainen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 1:51.0Q
5 Neville Myton Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:52.4
6 Michel Medinger Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 1:52.6
7 Dulamyn Amarsanaa Flag of the Mongolian People's Republic (1945-1992).svg  Mongolia 1:56.3
8 Anar Khan Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 1:56.4

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Manfred Kinder Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:49.5Q
2 Ahmed Issa Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 1:49.7Q
3 Derek McCleane Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 1:49.9Q
4 Rein Tölp Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:50.0Q
5 Peter Francis Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:50.1
6 Morgan Groth Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:51.4
7 José Neira Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 1:55.6
8 Ramasamy Subramaniam Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 1:58.5

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:49.0Q
2 Jerome Francis Siebert Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:49.2Q
3 Jacques Pennewaert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:49.2Q
4 Abram Krivosheev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:49.5Q
5 Alan Dean Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:49.6
6 Jeong Gyo-mo Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 1:51.8
7 Don Bertoia Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:52.2
8 Sebsibe Mamo Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 1:52.8

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Boulter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:48.9Q
2 George E. Kerr Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:48.9Q
3 Tony Blue Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:49.7Q
4 Manfred Matuschewski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:50.0Q
5 Noel Carroll Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 1:51.1
6 Rolf Jelinek Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 1:54.6
Amos Gilad Flag of Israel.svg  Israel DNF [4]

Heat 6

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 William Crothers Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:49.3Q
2 Maurice Lurot Flag of France.svg  France 1:49.8Q
3 Mamoru Morimoto Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 1:49.9Q
4 Rudolf Klaban Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:49.9Q
5 Francesco Bianchi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:50.2
6 Paul Roekaerts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:50.9
7 Patrick Field Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 1:54.0
8 Hassan Dyamwale Flag of Tanganyika.svg  Tanzania 1:54.9

Semifinals

The top two runners in each of the three semifinals qualified for the final, as did the two runners with the fastest times from among the 3rd-8th spots across all of the semifinals.

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:46.9Q
2 Jerome Francis Siebert Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.0Q
3 Jacques Pennewaert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:47.0q
4 Manfred Matuschewski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.3
5 Valery Bulyshev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:47.5
6 Morimoto Mamoru Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 1:47.7
7 Maurice Lurot Flag of France.svg  France 1:49.7
8 Stig Lindback Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1:49.8

Semifinal 2

Kerr and Kiprugut both crossed the finish line in 1:46.1, breaking the old Olympic record of 1:46.3.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 George E. Kerr Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:46.1Q, OR
2 Wilson Kiprugut Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:46.1Q, OR
3 Dieter Bogatzki Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:46.9q
4 John Peter Boulter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:47.1
5 Rudolf Klaban Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:47.4
6 Abram Krivosheev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:47.5
7 Derek George McCleane Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg  Ireland 1:48.4
8 Pekka Juutilainen Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 1:50.3

Semifinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 William Crothers Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:47.3Q
2 Tom Farrell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.8Q
3 Manfred Kinder Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.9
4 Chris Carter Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 1:49.1
5 Rein Tölp Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:49.1
6 Ahmed Issa Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 1:49.4
7 Tony Blue Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:49.6
8 Joseph Lambrechts Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:52.8

Final

No fewer than four runners broke the Olympic record that had been set in the semifinals, including the two runners that had set it. Despite the record performances by the other three runners, defending Olympic champion and world record holder Peter Snell still won by half a second to take the gold medal and set the new Olympic record at 1:45.1.

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Peter Snell Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:45.1 OR
Silver medal icon.svg William Crothers Flag of Canada (1957-1965).svg  Canada 1:45.6
Bronze medal icon.svg Wilson Kiprugut Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 1:45.9
4 George E. Kerr Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 1:45.9
5 Tom Farrell Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:46.6
6 Jerome Francis Siebert Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.0
7 Dieter Bogatzki Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  United Team of Germany 1:47.2
8 Jacques Pennewaert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:50.5

References

  1. 1 2 3 "800 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  3. Official Report, pp. 27–28.
  4. "רצה כמו הרוח, רץ ולא מסיים". הארץ.